Monthly Archives: May 2011

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 25

8 Comments

Al Reach (1840)
Lip Pike (1845)
Tip O'Neill (1858)
Joe Judge (1894)
Martin Dihigo (1905)
Lindsey Nelson (1919)
Bill Sharman (1926)|
Jim Marshall (1931)
W. P. Kinsella (1935)
Glenn Borgmann (1950)
John Montefusco (1950)
Bob Knepper (1954)
Kerwin Danley (1961)
Dave Hollins (1966)
Bill Haselman (1966)
Joey Eischen (1970)
Todd Walker (1973)
Miguel Tejada (1974)
Jason Kubel (1982)

Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Sharman was a minor league outfielder from 1950-1953 and in 1955, reaching AAA with St. Paul.

Today is also the birthday of Twins' farmhand Pat Dean (1985).

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 25 →

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game 47: #6org 4, #6org 2

2 Comments

All the optimism and hope I had at the beginning of the season has mostly evaporated at this point. I tell myself that all I want is for the Twins to play competitively, and if they're going to be miserable they end up with a protected first round draft pick.

Easier said than done, I guess. The last few games have been gut wrenching. So tonight when Blackburn got into trouble in the 7th, and Casilla gunned down Olivo at the plate to seemingly get out of trouble, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was totally expecting Brendan Ryan to run into one and deposit it over the fence. Or just hit some junk ball down the line. I was expecting the worst possible outcome.

So when they wriggled out, I was shocked. I spent the rest of the game waiting for that other shoe to drop. As we approached the 8th & 9th innings, I was wondering who in the world would pitch if the Twins got the lead. I was both relieved that Capps & Nathan were unavailable, and horrified at the Rochester Red Wings waiting in the 'pen to try to save the game. Blackburn had an efficient 8th and came out in the 9th to get the complete game win.

So, apparently all they have to do to win is to keep the bullpen from getting involved? Sounds like an easy blueprint for success! But they can worry about tomorrow tomorrow. The Twins beat the Mariners and the Cameron Curse tonight. It's been a while since the Twins won one at home. Feels good, man.

Final Score: Minnesota Twins 4, Seattle Mariners 2.
Twins Record: 16-31, 14.5 GB in the AL Central. Could the Indigenous People lose a few, please?
WP: Nick Blackburn (4-4) | LP: Doug Fister (2-5)

2011 Twins Game Recaps, View from the Ballpark

2011 Game 46: Mariners 8, Twins 7 (10)

19 Comments

Weather: 75°F, partly cloudy
Wind: 9 mph
Attendance: 37,498
Time: 3:40

Twins record: 15-31 (last in AL Central, 15.5 GB)
Fangraphs boxscore | MLB wrap

Highlights:

  • Highest WPA, hitter: Thome .344 (2-3, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB) | Highest WPA, pitcher: Dumatrait .038 (0.1 IP)
  • JI
  • JIM THOME's return

Lowlights:

  • Lowest WPA, hitter: Kubel, -.166 (0-5, SO) | Lowest WPA, pitcher: Sconeskuzz, .338 (0.2 IP, 2 H, ER, BB)
  • Bullpen: 3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, BB, 2 K

Over a decade ago I had a side gig as a yard maintenance lackey for a realtor who owned a bunch of rental properties. The guy lived in my neighborhood, in a huge red brick Victorian house with white trim and a huge front porch that I can't remember him ever sitting on in the evenings. Well, the guy must've decided that he'd had enough of living near the college (and his tenants), or maybe business was just that good, but he and his family bought an even bigger Tudor close to the Big Lake in Winona. Being that I worked for him, he asked me if I would help move them out. I don't remember what he paid me, but whatever it was, it wasn't enough.

The day of the move arrived, and I walked down the block to his place. One of the guy's tenants showed up around the same time, either to work off some unpaid rent, get a reduction in rent, or pick up a little cash, I don't remember which. We were told to head down to the basement, which was our main focus for the day. Once down there, we just about turned around and walked back up the stairs and away from what was in store for us. I honestly don't know what made us stay. There was crap everywhere. Collections of bicycle rims, coffee cans full of random junk, old sheet metal signs, rusty miscellaneous iron componentry - you get the picture. And it wasn't organized. Oh no. It was just strewn about, almost as if the guy had opened the basement door, stood at the top of the stairs, and heaved whatever was in his hands into the depths beyond. He was the Smaug of low-grade scrap metal, at least for an area supposedly zoned as residential.

Well, my temporary coworker and I schlepped that junk up the stairs all day, piling it in the back of an old quarter-ton pickup, the gloss of the maroon and white two tone paint on its flanks long gone. It was pretty wretched work, but what took the cake was, near the end of the day, unearthing a freakin' barber's chair down in the basement, one of the old ones with more chrome parts on it than a 1958 Buick. That sucker was heaaaavy, but we were duty-bound to lug it up the basement stairs, hoist it up into the truck bed, and haul it in one of the last loads over to the big Tudor. As we got in the truck for the drive across town, bed piled high with barber chair, rims, and all kinds of other detritus, the tenant looked at me and said, "You remember that TV show, Sanford & Son?" I looked at him, sighed, and said, "Yeaaah...," and hoped nobody I knew saw us until the job was behind us.

-------

This week's View from the Ballpark:
photo by Flickr user kevin wen

 

photo by Flickr user kevin wen

Remember, no embiggening.

Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of 5/23

6 Comments

Rochester 5, Syracuse 0 in Rochester.  The Red Wings scored two in the first and three in the eighth.  Kyle Gibson struck out eight in five innings, giving up four hits and two walks.  Three relievers did not allow a baserunner, with Chuck James going two innings, Anthony Slama striking out two in one inning, and Jim Hoey striking out the side in the ninth.  Ben Revere singled and tripled in his first game back in Rochester, raising his AAA average to .302, and Brian Dinkelman had two hits.

Binghamton at New Britain.  Postponed.  No makeup date was announced.

Tampa 4, Ft. Myers 1 in Ft. Myers.  The Yankees scored three in the eighth to break a 1-1 tie.  Brian Dozier had singled and doubled, raising his average to .325.  Tom Stuifbergen pitched 5.1 shutout innings, giving up four hits and two walks.  Brad Tippett took the loss, surrendering three runs on four hits in 1.1 innings.

Kane County 8, Beloit 5 in Beloit.  The Cougars scored four in the ninth to get a comeback victory.  Lance Ray singled and homered.  Derek McCallum doubled and drove in three.  B. J. Hermsen allowed three runs on six hits and a walk in 5.2 innings.  Jose Gonzalez took the loss, surrendering four runs on four hits and a walk in the ninth.

Other news—Clearwater and Jupiter played 23 innings last night, with Jupiter winning 2-1.  The score was tied 1-1 after six.  Each team used eight pitchers.  The teams combined for 31 hits but left 34 runners on base, 22 of them by Clearwater.  The time of the game was 5:37, or about as long as a typical Yankees-Red Sox game.

Games

Pixel Perfect Memories: Beyond Good & Evil

17 Comments

So, this may become a 4th Tuesday thing if you alls is up for it.

I own a Wii and a DS (both gifts), but unfortunately cannot afford a Playstation yet, which I desperately want. Thankfully, some great games are also made for the PC as well.  This is one of them.

Release Date:  Nov. 11, 2003
Platforms:  Windows, Xbox, Playstation 2, GameCube

One of the most engaging, charming games I have ever played, Beyond Good & Evil certainly earns a spot in my hall of fame.

The labour of love from Michael Ancel, BGE takes you to a world where citizens are in a war with aliens and must rely on the powerful military to help defend them from brutal attacks.  As a young woman named Jade, you are compelled to help in the war effort when your orphanage is attacked by the aliens.  Naturally, however, you go it alone with the help of your “uncle” Pey’j (a pig mechanic, no less).  While the plot itself is fairly straightforward (with only some minor twists), the story never slows down.  And the characters, backed by some excellent voice acting, carry you the whole way through.  It is tough not to care about the people you meet here, which goes a long way in providing an entertaining game.

While there are some adventure elements, this is more or less a strategic action game.  Enemies are rarely shot at and are mostly avoided by stealth, timing, and distraction.  You’ll be doing a lot of crawling, side-stepping, and wall-hugging to avoid detection (and since you are often far outnumbered, it is essential to survival).  What makes this game unique is that most currency (to buy upgrades, health restoration, etc.) is acquired by taking photographs of different species (benign and otherwise) on the planet for archival.  You sometimes have to photograph your enemies before you attack them!

For those who are comfortable with action games but don’t consider themselves to be experts, there is a reasonable learning curve.  Moreover, if you die while on a mission, you will be restored to a predetermined checkpoint (often only one or two minutes back), so even if you are unable to save the game for a while, you don’t lose all of your hard work.  My only complaint, and a fairly significant one, is that the PC version does not support game controllers, which is idiotic and unfortunate for those who are not keyboard inclined.  I was able to become fairly adept at the controls, but it would have been significantly more comfortable to play with a game pad.

The game is short, about ten to twelve hours for the average gamer to complete.  And while there are secrets to be found, the only significant replay value comes in simply wanting to see the story again.   For those who like the focus of their actions games to be more on story (without endless cut scenes), Beyond Good and Evil will not disappoint.

A sequel is in the works, though no release date has been confirmed.

Okay, what have you all been playing?  Should I beg someone to buy me Portal 2?

 

Minnesota Twins, MLB

Brainstorm

48 Comments

Do the Twins ever trade players who both have a few years ahead of them and are not supposedly difficult to manage? Off the top of my head, I can think of the following players who have been traded and had value:

(J.J. Hardy? were there personality issues there? -- 0.3 fWAR and counting)
Carlos Gomez -- 2.0 fWAR and counting
Jason Bartlett -- 7.7 fWAR and counting
Matt Garza -- 10.2 fWAR and counting
Kyle Lohse -- 9.8 fWAR and counting
A.J. Pierzynski -- 12.9 fWAR and counting

Going back further, I suppose you could even add Chuck Knoblauch (6.9 fWAR) and Todd Walker (11.1 fWAR) to that list. Castillo was traded not that long ago, but his knees barely worked and I don't think anyone expected him to have a lot of productive seasons ahead of him. If Jim Mandelero is to be believed, Ramos was hard to manage and didn't get along with his teammates. The Twins arguably got along well enough with Pierzynski, but I can't help but think that if he had Michael Cuddyer's personality, Joe Mauer's road to the majors would have involved additional minor league stops.

Excepting J.J. Hardy perhaps (I'm not sure what the Twins thought of his personality) I think maybe the last guy the Twins traded away with much potential for a future but no personality issues was Bobby Kielty. At least, I don't remember any run-ins with management, and I do remember being peeved that the Twins traded him for Shannon Stewart. Kielty went on to do essentially nothing, and Stewart had a great 750 PA with the Twins until 2005 hit and he ran out of gas.

Anyway, this was motivated because this Slowey situation is a dead ringer for Lohse's 2006 Twins exit. In terms of age and value over the three seasons prior to their trade, it practically couldn't be closer:

Slowey, trade pending, age 27, last three seasons fWAR: 2.2, 1.4, 3.0
Lohse, traded age 27, last three seasons fWAR: 2.2, 1.8, 3.3

I can't really argue that most of these guys were easy to get along with. Bartlett and Garza didn't last in Tampa all that long, Lohse pitched well for the Reds and they let him go, the Giants lost their minds and let AJP go for nothing in return. For all I know, I couldn't stand being in the same room with them. Yet, personality is a really frustrating motivation for a trade from where this fan sits. I can't tell you anything with any degree of certainty about any Twins' personality. I'm sure there are some legitimately good guys, and I'm sure there are some pricks. But I don't feel I can rely on the media to make those judgements, so I generally don't. And at that point, I'm left looking at a move where the Twins traded away a useful player, sometimes a player I was pretty excited about.

Anyway, am I missing someone big here? Or is just about the only way to get out of the Twins' organization to become a free agent or get on someone's nerves?

And this invites the question, are the Twins building a team of nice guys, and as nice guys are they indeed destined to finish last?